1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to rapid transit systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transit system that combines multiple independent vehicles into controllably linked high speed xe2x80x9ctrainsxe2x80x9d on an enclosed guideway, and automatically controls the operation and path of each vehicle to reach independently selected destinations.
2. Related Art
Problems of urban congestion, pollution, and traffic snarls are not new. As the world""s population has increased, it has become more urbanized, which has only increased the severity of these problems. While the automobile has made man more mobile, it has also added to problems of congestion and pollution, and greatly increased man""s consumption of certain natural resources. It has also greatly increased the likelihood of death or injury from transportation accidents. Moreover, the infrastructure required to support the vast number of trucks and cars consumes enormous amounts of public funds, building materials, and real estate. In the United States especially, the love affair with the automobile has spawned vast efforts in highway building to accommodate public demand. However, the rate of road building generally has not kept up with the rate of car driving and car buying. Consequently, congestion, pollution, and other related problems continue to increase. These issues all point out the need for better and more efficient mass transportation systems.
Transportation greatly affects the economy. One purpose of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution is to eliminate self-protective trade barriers between states. The familiar interstate freeway is one aspect of modern America that reflects this desire to reduce barriers, and is an important factor in this country""s overall economic strength. Any driver can travel from state to state without stopping, buy and sell goods across state lines without paying tariffs, and without enduring border checkpoints and other inconveniences.
On the other hand, increased mobility presents security challenges for communities. Easy mobility contributes to greater anonymity and crime because, again, any driver can travel anywhere. Los Angeles, for example, has one of the finest freeway systems in the world. But when it came time to expand this grid by connecting I-210 to I-710, South Pasadena successfully fought the expansion for decades. They believed that the freeway would increase crime and erode the familiarity unique to their community. Similar opposition to freeway building has also been successful in other communities, such as Greenwich Village, N.Y. in the 1970""s. Besides splitting neighborhoods, open freeways allow criminals to quickly and easily enter a community, commit a crime, and depart quickly.
While South Pasadena understood the hidden costs of a new freeway, the lack of connection between the 210 and 710 also hindered transit that would normally pass-by without stopping. By-passing transit encroaches on communities, but communities also encroach on by-passing transit. Growing communities tend to congest the transit systems, especially traditional high-speed ground transportation systems since they have dependencies or tiered collection systems. For example, local streets, collectors, and arterials collect traffic for freeways. Busses and planes do the same using hubs. These tiered collection systems represent an enormous supporting infrastructure.
To address these challenges, there have been many proposals for transit systems to help reduce the burden on (and need for) conventional surface roadways. Unfortunately, while mass transit systems have been built, expanded, and promoted, they can be very expensive to construct, they tend to be slow, and their scope remains relatively limited, particularly in areas of relatively low population density. Additionally, it has proven very difficult to wean Americans from their private automobiles when mass transit systems cannot offer the speed, independence, and flexibility that one enjoys with a private vehicle on open public roads.
It has been recognized that it would be advantageous to develop a high-speed transit system that provides independence and flexibility comparable to what drivers of private automobiles are accustomed toxe2x80x94allowing them to go where they want when they want.
It would also be advantageous to have a transit system that is compatible with private automobiles.
It would also be desirable to have a transit system that is enclosed and physically separated from other transit systems, vehicles, and pedestrians, so as to minimize safety and crime problems.
It would also be desirable to have an enclosed transit system that can be easily modified to allow ingress and egress at any additional desired point along its length.
It would also be desirable to have a transit system that can allow restricted ingress and egress at designated points.
It would also be desirable to have such a transit system that takes advantage of rapid computer-aided design and mass production techniques so that it is relatively inexpensive to build.
The invention advantageously provides a transit system for individual vehicles, including a substantially enclosed guideway with a transit lane and a transition lane. Disposed along the guideway are selectively actuable portals, configured to allow substantially transverse ingress and egress of vehicles into the transition lane. The vehicles are configured for automatic control within the guideway and during ingress and egress, and may also be configured for independent control by a driver outside the guideway. In the transition lane the vehicles accelerate to a transit speed and merge into the adjacent transit lane. The guidance system allows the vehicles to combine into controllably linked xe2x80x9ctrainsxe2x80x9d in the transit lane. Upon approaching a selected destination portal, an individual vehicle returns to the transition lane to decelerate for exit. The guideway is preferably comprised of individual guideway modules which are mass-produced to produce an economical system.
In accordance with a more detailed aspect of the present invention, the cost of use of the system is apportioned per vehicle depending upon various transportation economic factors, such as the distance traveled, the location of the origin portal, the location of the destination portal, the time of day, the degree of actual congestion within the guideway while the vehicle is traveling therein, the physical size of the vehicle, the priority of the vehicle, etc.